R&B singer Andra Day, known for her triple-platinum hit “Rise Up,” will perform the song at Super Bowl 58. Day expressed her excitement on social media about “performing the Black national anthem at the event. “Peace and blessings!!!” Performing the Anthem at the Super Bowl, yall! Grateful! “Thank you, God,” Day told her over 300,000 X followers.
Decoding the Black national anthem
The NAACP dubbed the song the “Negro national anthem” in 1919, and it has since become known as the “Black national anthem,” according to NPR. Shana Redmond, a Columbia professor, told the outlet that the song aims to fill gaps in the Star-Spangled Banner’s unifying message.
“The National Anthem, ‘The Star Spangled Banner,’ was missing something—was missing a radical history of inclusion, was missing an investment in radical visions of the future of equality, of parity,” she said. “‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ became a counterpoint to those types of absences and elisions.”
The song’s lyrics refer to the biblical book of Exodus and discuss the themes of escaping slavery and achieving freedom.
“We have come, over a way that with tears has been watered,
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered.
Out from the gloomy past.
’Til now we stand at last,
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast,” reads the lyrics.
Others say the song is divisive. Kari Lake, a former Arizona gubernatorial candidate, went viral in 2023 after remaining seated during a performance of the song at Super Bowl LVII, Fox News reported. Several Black Republicans supported the move, arguing that “we have one national anthem, and it’s THE national anthem.”
In 2023, conservative commentator Benny Johnson argued that the song should be “illegal.”
“What a repugnant, degenerate thing to do to separate the national anthem by race,” Johnson said. “Is there a white national anthem? I’m sure not many people would be happy with that being sung.”
The NFL has been embroiled in racial tensions in recent years, with players and coaches using their platform to advocate for their beliefs. Jerod Mayo, the New England Patriots’ new head coach, sparked a flurry of online debate this week when he mentioned racism during his first press conference.